Neuroscientists have known for some time that we do not have a “happy” center or an “anger” center of the brain, but rather these emotional states have unique patterns of activity. Now it appears that researchers can identify a person’s mental state rather accurately by comparing his/her patterns of activity Read more…
I am always up for suggestions on how to improve brain function, whether this means Sudoku, videogames, exercise, diet, and so on. So I read with interest that a group of UCLA researchers are reporting correlations between gray matter volume and the practice of meditation [1]. I have never tried Read more…
As my students and readers are aware, my only dabbling with personal biochemistry is limited to consuming substantial amounts of caffeine. Consequently, I was more than a little taken aback when my students, via their anonymous iClickers, informed me that 60% of them had consumed enough alcohol that they barfed. Read more…
Whatever you’re doing now, stop. Click here. Spend the remainder of your evening exploring the remarkable features found on Cold Spring Harbor’s Genes to Cognition Online: The 3-D interactive, rotating brain is a must-see for neuroscience faculty. I plan to use this in class to demonstrate neuroanatomy. Animations include reading Read more…
Paul Thompson of UCLA asks questions that some people think are unaskable, or should be–like what is the genetic and anatomical basis of human intelligence? First of all, psychologists still maintain a lively debate about the nature of intelligence. Is it a single factor, like Spearman’s g? Or do we Read more…